Chuchoter: Phuket Trip Day 1

Day 1 @ Phuket Town

We took an early flight from KL to Phuket which departed approximately at 8:30am. The flight distance is short so it only took us 2 hours to reach our destination and finally the plane landed ^^

From Phuket International Airport to Phuket Town, there are a few types of public transportation as your choice. For mini bus service, it's 150Baht per person while taxi usually costs 500Baht for one trip. At first, we wanted to take the airport bus which is the cheapest of all but we weren't really sure of the price as there is no counter or information centre. We only saw the bus schedule in sight. So we decided to take the taxi. The taxi driver did not have a meter reading in his taxi ( dont be surprise with that ) You can hire them by bargaining the before you hop on the taxi. It cost us 550Baht.

Our stay in Phuket Town is at The Emotion Place ( search it on Google or Agoda ). It is within walking distance to the shoppping malls like Central Festival Phuket and Big C as well as the weekend market. There is a 7-11 shop few doors away. It is where you can find the classic type of carbonated drinks such as Coke and Fanta in glass bottle at 10 Baht. I dont think you can find this type of bottle in Malaysia for only MYR 1. The hostel and guesthouse which I stay in is simple and cosy, unlike those five stars hotels which are decorated so grandly as if you are in a ballroom. We have our basic necessities in every room such as the refrigeratior, tv, air conditioner and a small separated space with basin ( I guess you can keep your food there ). If you are looking for any day drips to the islands any famous tourist places like the Fantasea, you can get it from the hotel but the price us at least 1000 over Baht per person.

After taking a rest at the hostel, we headed to Phuket Town area where you find local specialties and souveniers. There are handmade handicrafts, T-shirts, Indonesia made batik cloth, art pieces and many more. As it is more of tourist palace, the price are marked higher up and it doesn't worth the money some times especially clothings. However, the price of the food is still reasonable and most importantly mouth-licking good :D We ate twice at two different restaurant to try different types of food. We had pork satay and some fried noodles at our first stop at a local restaurant. The pork satay costs us 50Baht only. At our second stop, I had stir fried noodles with seafood in soy sauce for 45Baht. Although it looks more like Chinese style food instead of Thai food, but it worth eating as you have seafood like two medium size prawns and lots of sotong ( squid ). These restaurants in Phuket do serve unlimited free water with ice.

At weekend night there's one thing you definitely cannot miss out! It is the Weekend Night Market. Make sure you brought stacks of money notes #just kidding :P For teens especially girls, I can conclude that you will SHOP TILL YOU DROP. Oh gosh. Look at the varities of trendy tops, shorts, flats, sandals, handbag and the accessories which are so cheap! As a price guide (from what I saw), here's the usual price you shall get :

Tops ( some dresses too ) - 100Baht ONLY
You may not get the latest on trend ( Korean style ) clothing but you will not feel left out too with the tops. Their trend here in Thailand is is quite similar with Malaysia trend, but of course incomparable with Hong Kong, Taiwan and Korea (definitely).

Shorts - 100Baht ONLY
Most stalls sell the Korean style shorts now with really good quality and cutting. It is free size but it is not too small and it fits everyone. There do have casual shorts in many sizes too. My mum grabbed four different colours shorts :)

Shoes :
Slippers and Sandals - 100Baht only
You can have FitFlops too. Lol. But it looks quite fake. They even have VKI slippers which I saw in 1U.

Flats and Heels -120-150Baht
It is cheap but I find their quality slightly lower :( dont expect too much at this price

Accessories - 10Baht
You can get everything you need, from hair accessories, earrings ( two pairs ) to little bits of unique souveniers. There is only one advice - buy as many as you can so that you wont regret.

Last but not least, FOOD. Have you dinner here by trying all types of local delicacies, drinks and desserts. Try their fried fish cake ( 8 for 20Baht ). It is slightly spicy but it is yummy. If you opt for pastry and breads, they have it here too. I bought eclairs for 5Baht for one tiny piece ( it is slightly larger than our 50cents coin ) For drinks, there are always blended food drinks, especially blended orange juice. There are also cocktails of your coice.

If you plan to visit the Weekend Market, do wear thin clothings as it is really hot and you will get sweaty too.

I will definitely be back here again. It is a nice place to visit or shall I call it a SHOPPING PARADISE ? <3 nbsp="nbsp" p="p">
*updated on 29/9/12*